Following an out and intentional walk, a tough situation became worse when Joey Votto committed an error. The ball popped out of his glove as he tried to step on first to complete an unassisted groundout.

The Reds used a five-man infield with the bases loaded before Stephens walked Bote to send Wrigley Field fans into their customary, "Go Cubs Go" victory song.

"You can’t have a leadoff walk there in that situation," Stephens said. "You try to compete and fight through it, but I didn't execute."

The Reds had already escaped one bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning. Catcher Curt Casali scooped a throw from second baseman Scooter Gennett out of the dirt for a key force out.

"That was incredible," Gennett said.

Against the Cubs, there isn't much room for error.

In the seventh inning, the Cubs scored two runs on a two-out rally against three Reds relievers. With runners on the corners, Javier Baez hit a two-run single on an 0-2 pitch, a ground ball that snuck past Reds shortstop Jose Peraza.

Reds center fielder Billy Hamilton made a soft throw back into the infield and Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward, the runner who was on first base, took full advantage by sprinting to the plate and beating the relay throw home to give the Cubs a 5-4 lead.

Heyward was attempting to steal second on the pitch, which helped him speed around the base paths. He slowed down when he rounded third until he saw the soft throw into the infield.

"I put that all on myself," Hamilton said. "Heads up baserunning by him. You have to give credit to him, especially in that situation with the game tied, you don’t expect him to run like that."

The Reds, who lost two games in a row for the first time in more than a week, took a lead through the Cubs’ own fielding miscues.

With two outs in the fifth inning against Cubs lefty Jon Lester, Hamilton drew a five-pitch walk. He promptly stole second, advanced to third when the ball bounced into center field and scored when the throw to the plate was off target.

The power of Hamilton’s speed: He scored from first without a swing of the bat.

"I love being aggressive," Hamilton said. "Got to third. I just saw the ball laying on the ground so I was just thinking, ‘If he has to bend down, pick the ball up and then make a perfect throw, I’m going to take that chance.’"

Reds left fielder Adam Duvall hit a solo home run to open the ninth inning, tying the game at 5, against Cubs closer Brandon Morrow.

It was the second home run Morrow has given up in the last two seasons.

But for the second straight day, the Reds couldn’t hold onto their lead.

"That game had a little bit of everything," Riggleman said. "It had big hitting, it had good defense. It had unearned runs. It just came down to they got the last at-bat and walks played a big part."

The Reds will travel to Cleveland for a three-game series, beginning the 21st-annual Ohio Cup series on Monday. The Indians lost two of three games to the Oakland A’s in a weekend series.